West Austin Neighborhood Group

The Austin-American Statesman reports that the recommendations from Cooper, Robertson & Partners LLP (CR&P) for the redevelopment of the Brackenridge tract call for denser construction than City of Austin rules would generally allow. Resolution of the conflict between the City’s rules and the development proposals will have a significant impact on the character and quality of West Austin as efforts are made to encourage growth without destroying the established West Austin neighborhood.

A UT panel of faculty members is recommending transforming the University of Texas’ Brackenridge tract into an environmental science campus which would enhance an existing biological field laboratory by housing the university’s extensive plant and natural history collections, currently stored on the main campus, in a new science center that would serve as a museum, a research center and a public outreach site. Additional space on the 350-acre tract would be set aside for a technology transfer center, where researchers could work on biofuels, biotech, clean energy, environmentally friendly architecture and other initiatives with a goal of moving breakthroughs at the lab bench into the marketplace.